A Day To Celebrate Freedom

It is a huge news day today! Firstly, Canada is going to the polls to decide upon who will be running the country. Today, either a new Prime Minister will be voted into office or the reigning Prime Minister will continue his tenure as the nation’s leader. Secondly, news came out this morning that Osama bin Laden has been killed!

This is no small deal. Since the events of 9/11 ten years ago (wow, it’s been ten years already!), the world has sought the whereabouts of the man alleged to be the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks. Today, there is the feeling that a worldwide sigh of relief is being collectively released.

As Steve Holland and Faisal Mehmood of Reuters reported earlier today, bin Laden was killed near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. He was found in a million-dollar compound and was shot after about 40 minutes of fighting. According to U.S. President Barack Obama at a quickly-called White House speech this morning, “justice has been done”.

Of course, there is no telling what type of impact this astonishing news will have on the Canadian election. There has been growing sentiment in recent years that too many lives have been lost fighting the war in the Middle East and that too much money has been spent on what some consider to be unnecessary military needs.

Liberally-minded voters may see this incident as an opportunity to welcome change by ushering in a government that would spend money elsewhere and oppose further commitment to sending troops to Afghanistan. Then again, conservative thinkers may praise today’s news as an example of how their no-quit attitude to finding bin Laden over the past decade led to his demise.

We, here at Synergy, would like to reiterate that no matter what your political views are, you should exercise your right to vote today. If there’s one thing we should all be able to agree upon, it’s that having the freedom to express your own ideas and points of view is something to be both cherished and respected.

As Holland and Mehmood point out, this sense of freedom was being celebrated today throughout the United States. “Jubilant, flag-waving celebrations erupted in Washington and New York after Obama’s announcement,” they write, “It was the biggest national security victory for the president since he took office in early 2009 and could give him a political boost as he seeks re-election in 2012.”